Thing about the Ark…not only did it disappear physically (if if ever existed in the first place), it disappeared from the Jewish saga as well.
When the Israelites were exiled, they were allowed to take artifacts and objects of worship from the Temple, but there was no mention made of the Ark (in fact, there’s no mention of the Ark after Solomon placed it the inner room of his newly built Temple long before). Nothing was said about taking it into exile, hiding it or if it was destroyed.
And when they were allowed to return and rebuild, again no mention is made of the Ark. The inner room (Holy of Holies) of the new Temple was empty.
What had been arguably the most important item in their religion—the very residence of their God and the repository of His Law—simply disappears from the story and is never mentioned again.

“Another flaw in the human character is that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.”—Kurt Vonnegut

Reminds me of the shroud of turin, when in 2003, the vatican, decided that it needed preservation techniques to save it and in the process eliminated any possibility of further scientific study. Just goes to show the length and strategies religionists will use to preserve and propagate their myths and delusions.

“Proving the efficacy of a methodology without defining the word ‘efficacy’ can come back to bite you in the assertion.”—Salt Creek